Bleacher Report - Articles by Dave Mulhern

Philadelphia Phillies Survive Early Season Distractions

Dave Mulhern — Sat, 09 May 2009 08:42:57 -0400

The Phillies organization should be commended for the way it has handled the last six months. Going from the height of excitement and exhilaration of being World [f***in] Champions, to the depth of sorrow that comes with the passing of an icon like HarryKalas is an emotional swing that has challenged players and fans alike.

The way the organization handled both—with reserved congratulation for the Champs and reverent, respectful admiration for the legendary broadcaster—has been very impressive and warrants noting before I really get into my article.

After a pretty slow start in which the Phils struggled and scuffled along trying to produce runs while dealing with all these distractions, the bats have finally heated up, and it is not surprising that this turnaround has corresponded to a winning streak and a spot in first place of the NL East.

Though many lineups have been run out this year, we will use the most common one here to go through and evaluate each of the Phillies' batters so far this season.

1. Jimmy Rollins (.211 avg, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB):

The former league MVP and unquestionable team leader has had his struggles at the plate this year, only recently cracking above the Mendoza line by getting his average above the .200 mark. His power numbers are not impressive, though Jimmy is not expected to hit for a ton of power.

His steals are down, but that is because he is never on base (his current OBP of .250 is over 80 points lower than his career OBP of .332). Maybe the most concerning thing is the 14 strikeouts already notched by the Phils' lead-off man.

At the height of Phillies fans' frustration with Rollins at lead-offthe main criticism was that he struck out too much, averaging 108 strikeouts per year during the 2001, 2002, and 2003 seasons.

One of the best adjustments in his game has been his cutting down on K's—only 55 last season—but with 14 at this point in the year, J-Roll is on a disturbing pace reserved usually for power hitters like Ryan Howard.

At this pace, Rollins could strike out over 100 times this year. Manager Charlie Manuel has tried moving him down in the order, but Rollins belongs in thelead-off spot.

Once he starts to see the ball and cut down on those K's, we should see him back to the swaggering, trash-talking captain of team morale we all know and love, but for now it is official: he is in a funk.

2. Shane Victorino (.304, 4, 19)

Shane is one of the few players who is actually out-hitting expectations right now. With his .304 average 20 points higher than his career mark, the Flyin' Hawaiian is using the whole field, and his superior speed, to his advantage by already racking up 13 extra-base hits and scoring 23 times for the Phightins.

With this slugging percentage about 100 points higher than his career average, you can probably expect to see a few less big hits from Victorino, and more of the slap-happy singles hitter who is pesky on the base paths and scrappy in the field.

While his production warrants praise (hopefully it can get him onto his first-ever All-Star Game roster), law of averages probably dictates that he will cool off a bit at some point.

3. Chase Utley (.318, 8, 21)

Utley, the Phillies second baseman whose mouth is the only thing dirtier than his uniform, is off to a characteristically hot start this year. After hitting .330-plus and leading the league in homers in the first two months of the season in 2008, Chase is back at it this year with an OBP of .458.

With 17 bases on balls already this year, his walks are definitely supplementing that number, along with an increasing level of health and recovery from offseason hip surgery.

Chase is still on the road to recovery, sitting out a game as recently as this week, but has not been slowed significantly by these setbacks and looks to be within range of the production people expect from him.

4. Ryan Howard (.291, 6, 22, 29 SO)

Rhyno is traditionally a slow starter, with most of his numbers usually being put up late in the season in August and September (when the games really count), but the slugger has had a pretty good first month.

Considering at times last year Howard was spotted under the .190 mark and set and matched his own single-season strikeout record with 199 in each of the past two years, his output this April has been a reason for optimism.

After getting killed last year for his huge strikeout numbers in discussions about the MVP race to the point that some wondered if his production had begun a steady decline, his 29 strikeouts put him on pace for only about 160 this year—still an astronomical number, but a definite improvement from last year.

As a cleanup hitter, though, the former MVP's main role in this lineup is to drive in runs, and his 22 are tied for the team lead with Raul Ibañez and puts him on pace for another 120-plus RBI season.

And it's a good thing, considering he costs the Phils a cool $15 mil this season after signing his first big-league contract extension this off-season.

5. Jayson Werth (.284, 5, 19, 20 SO)

First let me say, through the whole World Series run and the early part of this season the most confusing thing to me about this team is the female obsession with JaysonWerth.

Personally, I cannot get past the landing-strip soul patch underneath his bottom lip, and I do not understand how anyone does. But I digress.

Jayson Werth is a huge key to the Phillies' lineup, and after proving his mettle as an everyday player by taking Geoff Jenkins' starting job last season, now is the time when the league may be able to catch up with him.

He is a very strikeout-prone hitter with good pop, but his aggressiveness at the plate could hurt him as the year goes on. The 20 strikeouts, though considerably less than Ryan Howard's, displays a trend that should be a little alarming in the eyes of Phillies fans.

Werth does not have the resume of Howard, and does not provide as much offense for the lineup, so cutting down on his strikeouts should be a priority.

6. Raul Ibañez (.343, 8, 22)

With as many extra-base hits as strikeouts to this point in the season (17), Ibañez has been a nice surprise for the Phillies, and his signing is making new GM Reuben Amaro, Jr. look pretty smart for picking him up and letting Pat "the glove" Burrell walk down to Tampa Bay to join the Phils' World Series opponent.

His slugging percentage (.676) is 200 points higher than his career average, so chances are the power output will slow down, but Ibañez has proved to be exactly the professional hitter the Phils were expecting, and has provided a similarly hot start to the departed Burrell's 2008 season.

7. Pedro Feliz (.311, 2, 17)

Happy Pete is another guy enjoying a hot start, with his 17 RBIs a valuable contribution from the seven-hole in the order. With little pressure on him to provide offense as was expected in his 'Frisco days, Feliz is relaxed at the plate and has seen some good improvements.

Most of all for a guy who usually has strikeout issues, to only have 10 at this point of the year is a definite improvement and a sign of hope for a good season overall out of Pedro.

8. Carlos Ruiz (.185, 0, 0, 9 G)

Chooch is just returning from a sternum injury suffered during his time representing Panama in the World Baseball Classic. He has played his characteristic good defense and the pitchers seem to have responded well to his return, but Carlos has not yet seen much of anything in the way of offensive achievement.

He only hit .219 last year on the way to a Division title, so an offensive explosion is not necessarily to be expected, but if he remains the Phillies' only major offensive hole, that will be something that fans can live with.

Phils' Pitchers Prepare for Rays' Potency

Dave Mulhern — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:55:50 -0400

No, not that kind of potency. Get your head out of the gutter. What the headline meant was that the Phladelphia Phillies' pitching staff, especially the starting rotation, should be gearing up over the next few days as the World Series approaches. With their matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays finally official, after last night's ALCS Game Seven, the Phillies will have their work cut out for them against a young, energetic, and powerful lineup.

With young stars like B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Carl Crawford, and with Rocco Baldelli even getting himself in the mix late in the year, the Rays have one of the best young lineups in the Majors. Filling in around these guys are talents like veteran Cliff Floyd, Japanese import Aki Iwamura, Gabe Gross, Willy Aybar, Fernando Perez, a whole different cast of characters, who, at one time or another, have stepped up and made important contributions to the offensive success of their team. For Phillies fans, this should sound pretty familiar, and for Phillies starters, it should sound pretty frightening.

That is not to say that I think the Phillies will be unable or unprepared to handle the Rays' hitters, just that they definitely should not take them lightly. After watching the success of the Phillies' lineup, a similarly young lineup that a lot of people expected to falter down the stretch or as the postseason wore on, the starters for the Phils have had a front row seat to see just what kind of attitude and ability will be present in the Rays' hitters.

So what should we expect to see out of the Phillies' rotation in the World Series? Let's take a look and see what we can determine.

First things first, who will be the starting pitchers for the Phillies in this World Series? Cole Hamels and Brett Myers were locks to pitch Games One and Two, respectively, from the moment Carlos Ruiz snagged that pop fly out of the dark Los Angeles night sky in front of the 84 Dodgers fans still present at Game Five.

However, after two straight shaky outings, it was unsure whether or not Jamie Moyer would start a game or not. Charlie Manuel has since announced that he will stick with the crafty veteran southpaw and give him the nod in Game Three. Joe Blanton would probably be pencilled in for Game Four, with the rotation resetting to Hamels afterward.

But depending on how the series plays out, it is entirely possible that Blanton would get skipped in favor of more innings with Hamels on the mound.

Cole Hamels is a bona fide major-league ace and one of the best left-handed pitchers in the league. Boasting a strong fastball, a functional curveball, and a devastating change-up, Hamels can make even the best hitters look foolish in big at-bats. Maybe even more important than his pitching ability, though, is the NLCS MVP's mentality and personality on the pitching mound.

He has grown up a lot since he came into the league and seems to have put the hot-headed days of his past (see, 2005 broken hand resulting from a bar fight) behind him without losing the competitive fire that makes him a great pitcher. This guy has some of the best stuff in the game, and even though he has quite an ego, he has shown that he can really put people away consistently.

Even in his bad starts, you can watch a game pitched by Cole Hamels and think to yourself at least once an inning: "Wow, there's not many pitchers that can make a pitch like that."

Cole should be able to handle the Rays' lineup, as long as he gets a little run support and stays on an even keel when the Rays do get to him. I think the Phillies should be able to win the game(s) pitched by Hamels and am excited to see how he goes after them.

Brett Myers should have a pretty good shot at a win, too, but keeping his composure is even more important for a guy like Myers than anyone on the Phils' pitching staff. As fantastic as Brett has been this postseason (on the mound, as well as at the plate), he can be prone to some serious blow-ups.

He lives and dies by the success of his fastball, playing with a pretty good curveball and occasional change, but those two become a lot less frequent and a lot more hittable when Myers is angry with himself over difficulties with his fastball.

Myers is a fiery guy, one of the most competitive players in the game, and can use that to his definite advantage in getting guys out.

However, if he is not on his A-game, and the Rays really get to him, it could be a short outing for the pitcher with the short temper. In his recent string of success, he has been able to maintain composure, even through some rough spots, so expect this level-headed Brett to come out again and work hard for a win.

Jamie Moyer has no such temper issues. In fact, of all the things to pick on about Jamie Moyer's pitching ability, temper and mental makeup are about the last two things anyone should worry about.

He has been around the majors for 22 years now and just may hold the all-time record for a pitcher making the opposing batter say: "How the hell did I miss that pitch?"

The talking heads on TV will tell you that because the Rays are a young team, they will be eager and Jamie Moyer will have a field day with them. That has proved to be untrue in these playoffs, with young lineups from the Brewers and the Dodgers pummeling Moyer pretty soundly.

What really will make the difference for Jamie Moyer when he is on the mound is whether or not he is getting the calls on the outside corner of the plate, where a pitcher like him really makes his money. When that outside pitch is consistently being called a strike, hitters are forced to swing at it for self-preservation, and that's when you see guys diving at the ball and hitting a lot of the weak grounders and pop-ups that Jamie Moyer lives on.

Radar-gun fans should be afraid (very afraid) of Jamie Moyer, with a fastball topping out around 84 miles per hour and a change-up that typically clocks in around the high 60s, which explains the frustration you see on hitters faces when he makes them look foolish.

A good hitting team like the Rays, though, with the appropriate amount of patience, can hit Jamie Moyer and get into him for some serious runs. If Moyer is missing run support and/or a generous strike zone, look for him to possibly struggle.

Joe Blanton has been a pleasant surprise since arriving in Philadelphia. After being acquired in a seemingly desperate deadline move aimed at keeping Adam Eaton as far away from the Citizens Bank Park pitcher's mound as possible, Blanton has come in and been a rock in the Phillies rotation. Well, as much of a rock as you are going to find from a fourth starter, anyway.

Blanton will consistently go anywhere from five to seven innings, giving up between two and four runs, or just good enough to keep himself in the game. A typical innings eater, Blanton will pitch well enough for the manager to talk himself into leaving him in, but is almost guaranteed to make fans sweat by getting himself into a few jams throughout the game.

His ability to buckle down and make crucial pitches when he gets into those jams will decide just how much of a rock he is in his World Series debut.

He could turn in another solid, borderline heroic outing as he has in the Phils' two previous series, or he could easily let one of his jams get out of hand and see first-hand just how potent this Rays lineup is. Another guy looking for run support, he will also be counting on his fielders to play solid defense, as he is not an overpowering strikeout pitcher.

All in all, I think the Phillies have a good chance in this series, and a lot of it has to do with the way they have been pitching. They have been able to get some really timely hits and guys have come up big defensively so far in the postseason, but what has kept them successful has been their impressive pitching.

Their starters have been able to keep them in games all year, and I see no reason why that will not continue. If the Phillies lose this series, my guess is that it will have more to do with the Rays' equally impressive young pitchers shutting down the Philadelphia hitters than with the Phillies' starting rotation not doing their job.

SERIES PREDICTION: Phils in seven (though four would be sweet because I have Game Four seats).

E-A-G-L-E-S...Phillies?

Dave Mulhern — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:41:40 -0400

Many people have strong opinions on Philadelphia fans, not one of which seems to be particularly good.

Known primarily for things like booing everyone from Mike Schmidt to Santa Claus (and even pelting the big guy with snowballs), throwing batteries at J.D. Drew, and cheering when Michael Irvin went down with a career-ending neck injury, Philadelphia sports fans have a reputation of being knowledgeable and "passionate"—while at the same time vicious and unforgiving.

We are passionate. We do expect a lot from our athletes, and we have done some admittedly stupid (but unquestionably funny) things as a fanbase, but a lot of that simply stems from the boredom of going 23 years and counting without a championship team.

Mixed up in all the passion, championship hunger, and over-the-top bad behavior, though, is the fact that lots of people just do not really understand Philadelphians as a fanbase.

People mistake our high expectations for a lack of appreciation for talented players. It's not that we do not appreciate Jimmy Rollins' ability to hit for average and power at the top of the order or his speed on the base paths. It's that when we watch him consistently fail to reach those capabilities we get frustrated and let him know about it.

The blue-collar nature of Philly is mistaken for a role that all athletes must fill in our city. Sure, we have embraced guys like Aaron Rowand, Chase Utley, and Jeremiah Trotter for their tireless work ethics and willingness to play their games at full throttle all the time. Have we not also adored glitz-and-glam superstars like Allen Iverson, Ryan Howard, and, most of all, Terrell Owens?

The most misunderstood thing about Philadelphia fans, though, is the E-A-G-L-E-S chant that is heard at any and all Philadelphia sporting events, whether home or away, for whichever Philly team happens to be playing on a given night.

This chant, heard through the wrong ears and analyzed through a cynical brain, might be mistaken for a conflict of loyalties among the teams within the city. It is understandable why one would see the chant as one of disapproval for the team whose game the fans are attending and a sign of preference for the Eagles.

Some say that upon hearing it outside of the context of an Eagles game is a clear indicator that, no matter what else is going on in the Philadelphia sports world, the chant shows that the Eagles take preference over everything else.

That, convenient as it might be, is not an accurate summary of the motivations behind our beloved rallying cry.

The chant must be understood as just that—the rallying cry that provides for Philadelphia fans a quick, easy way to identify themselves to each other when in close proximity (i.e. within earshot). It may seem a silly means of identification, but if a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan hears someone else start with E-A- it is difficult not to continue and finish with G-L-E-S, EAGLES!

Personally, I only do it at away contests—at a home game it should be pretty obvious that most are Philly fans.

However, I go to college in New York City, so when I find myself in the not-so-friendly confines of Shea Stadium (good riddance to that dump of a stadium) I can easily find comfort and a sense of strength in numbers when I hear a few guys two sections over start the Eagles chant as a sign that we may be here in hostile territory, but we're in this thing together.

It's certainly an unusual tradition, one that not many fanbases can relate to. It may be easy to mistake our show of solidarity for a display of divided allegiance, and others may never understand it.

That's alright, though; we can just add it to the list.

And when the Phillies, Sixers, or Flyers are the team that brings home our elusive championship and the outsiders hear the Eagles chant all the way down Broad Street, who cares if they understand it or not?

2008 Phillies Awards: A Tale Of Two Halves

Dave Mulhern — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:04:56 -0400

When I decided to write this article, I tried to find a unique way to highlight those who turned in the best performances for the Phillies this year, without simply giving Ryan Howard the title of Phillies best Hitter, Lidge their best Pitcher, and J.A. Happ their best Rookie. So, upon further review, I thought it would be interesting to split the season right down the middle, evaluating the first half separately from the second.

I think anyone who has followed the Phillies throughout their season realizes that the team has undergone some major changes. I mean come on, if I told you in June that come September Jayson Werth would be hitting third in the lineup and Pat Burrell would be hitting .245, you would have laughed in my face.

This goes to show that it is quite necessary to break this season up into its separate halves and look at who had the best (and the worst) Phillies performances in 2008. So, without further ado, we'll start chronologically with the First Half Awards

First-Half Comeback/Breakout Player of the Year: Pat Burrell.

I gave Pat strong consideration for First half MVP, but since he started the year scorching - posting a .271/19/48 to go with a surprising 63 walks and a .410 OBP through the end of June - I gave him this title instead. Burrell seemed uncharacteristically calm in big at-bats, and as a result, drove in a ton of runs early on for the Phils. Add that to his previously terrible reputation, and we can ignore the fact that this performance was actually more of a continuation of a stellar 2007 second half.

First-Half Rookie of the Year: J.A. Happ.

I almost gave this one to T.J. Bohn, until I remembered that Happ's first stint was in the beginning of July when Eaton really started to go south, and that Bohn actually played for the Seattle Mariners in 2006 for a while (18 games to be exact) so his status as a rookie was questionable in my mind. (By the way, if someone wants to leave the ruling on that as a comment I'd appreciate it).

Also, in Happ's two starts for the Phils in early July, the youngster really held his own against two tough teams in the Mets and Cardinals (who at the time were still good), giving up just 4 earned runs over 11 innings of work in the two games.

First-Half Cy Young: Brad Lidge.

It would have been pretty easy to give this to Lidge for the second half of the season instead of the first, but with the resurgence of Brett Myers in the second half, it would be difficult not to give him the award for that part of the year. Also, Brad Lidge's first half was a magnificent three months of baseball, with the closer notching a prefect 19 of 19 save opportunities, carrying a ridiculous 0.84 ERA through the end of June and using a nasty slider to achieve a sparkling ratio of 42 strikeouts to just 15 walks.

First-Half MVP: Chase Utley.

This guy right here might have been the single most feared hitter in all of baseball in the first half of this season. Through the first three months of the season Utley posted a .297/23/65 line that included another 23 doubles to match his home run total as well as a two-week hitting slump at the end of June. Utley spent most of the first half in control of the league lead in homers and some significant time leading it in RBI. No wonder people were throwing around Rogers Hornsby comparisons early on in the year.

First-Half Biggest Disappointment: Adam Eaton.

Quite a few to choose from here with players like Brett Myers, Geoff Jenkins, So Taguchi, and Pedro Feliz performing so far below expectations. But no one lost games for the Phillies quite as consistently as Eaton. With a 2-6 record and an ERA just below 5, it is no wonder the Phils went with Happ for a period of time and eventually traded for Joe Blanton just to get this bum out of the rotation.

Now that we've recapped the ups and downs of the team we watched in the first half of the year, lets take a look at who stepped it up and who packed it in for the second half of 2008.

Second-Half Comeback/Breakout Player of the Year: Jayson Werth.

With his 12 HRs and 25 RBIs (and counting) in the second half, Werth has been a reliable bat wherever he has been put in the lineup. He still has some issues with striking out but posted an impressive .433 OBP in the month of August and is a serious defensive and base-running upgrade from Geoff Jenkins. Werth has used the second half of this season to prove many people wrong who didn't believe he was an everyday Major League outfielder by setting career highs in runs, hits, home runs, RBIs, total bases, and stolen bases.

Second-Half Rookie of the Year: J.A. Happ.

See above. Add to that two (and counting) impressive outings against the Braves in late September and you've got yourself a unanimous choice for Phillies Rookie of the Year.

Second-Half Cy Young: Brett Myers.

He almost got Comeback player of the second half in my mind, but he really has been so good that I felt I had to elevate him to this award. Since coming back from a painful and well-documented demotion to the minor leagues, Brett has been extremely impressive, with 11 of his 12 starts since being of the Quality-Start variety and with two of them being complete-game shutouts.

Compiling a 7-3 record over those 12 starts, Brett has shown a new confidence and swagger reminiscent of when he was the closer last year and had a serious attitude about him, while also regaining control of his breaking and off-speed pitches through renewed confidence in his fastball.

Second-Half MVP: Ryan Howard.

Ryan Howard stunk in the first half of this year. There are no two ways about it. With his average dipping as low as .163 at one point and reaching 100 strikeouts on June 17th, the 2006 NL MVP and freshly-paid 10-million-dollar man was really struggling at the plate in addition to his usual struggles with fielding and base-running agility.

Then, July came and Howard hit .311 in July to raise his average to .239. His average dipped as low as .227 in late August and has hvered between there and its recent high-water mark of .249, but the run production has been ridiculous. Since the beginning of July, Howard has hit 26 HRs while driving in 73 runs (27 of which came in September alone).

After a historically bad first half of the season, and a still- embarrassing batting average, Howard has found a way to squeeze himself into NL MVP talks for another year and it has taken quite a second half to do so.

Second-Half Biggest Disappointment: Geoff Jenkins.

Luckily the Phillies were somehow able to scrape up Matt Stairs to replace Jenkins as the aging, slightly overweight, power-hitting right fielder without much power. No, actually the Phils have gotten pretty lucky with the way Werth has stepped in after Jenkins went down with injury.

Without the pleasant surprise of Werth playing so well, Jenkins would have left this team high and dry with no right fielder to speak of and maybe even (gasp) So Taguchi getting meaningful at-bats for the Phils. In a related note, Adam Eaton still sucks.

There you have it, the Phillies awards for the first half and the second half of the season. Maybe tomorrow I'll post who I think deserves these recognitions for the entirety of the year. Maybe not. I guess you'll just have to click over to find out...